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Efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions at the Vancouver meeting

( : VANCOUVER MEETING)
And to tell us more about the meeting and how it will affect inter-Korea relations,... Dr. Bong Young-shik, a researcher at the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies,... joins us in the studio today.
Welcome to the program.

Pleasure to be here.

1- Now this meeting was scheduled way before North Korea played the dialogue card for the new year... so tell us more about this meeting and which countries are participating,... as well as... why it's being held.

2- But then how effective will this meeting be,... considering that the two Koreas have already met and talked about various inter-Korean issues... including the North participating in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics?

3- China and Russia meanwhile are not expected to take part in this meeting. Why so?

4- Critics have said that if China and Russia..., considered two of North Korea's most influential and important neighbors,... are not present, the meeting itself won't really help much in tackling issues surrounding the North's nuclear program.

5 - What kind of responses can we expect from other countries at the meeting then?

6- Now South and North Korea are holding working-level talks today at Tongil-gak,... on the prospects of Pyongyang sending its performance art group to the Winter Olympics.
What impact will this meeting have on the Vancouver meeting?

7- Also at the meeting in Vancouver,... the U.S. and Canada are expected to ask for the authority to interdict vessels suspected of violating sanctions on North Korea.
Tell us more about maritime interdiction... and how it differs from a naval blockade... which the U.S. has been hoping to enforce.

8- How has Seoul responded to plans to interdict North Korea's maritime traffic?

9- There's also the possibility that the South Korean foreign minister will meet with her American and Japanese counterparts for bilateral or trilateral talks on the sidelines of the Vancouver talks.

10- Then what's your take on any potential dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea?
U.S. President Donald Trump did say earlier this month that the U.S. would be willing to talk with North Korea under the right circumstances.